JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE HEROIC AGE
by ABOOK5117
Summary: The Justice League finds themselves at odds with the Argonauts, a team of government sanctioned superheroes led by General Sam Lane and Lex Luthor. They investigate to see if this new team's intentions are sincere, and as they find out more, things become complicated for some Justice Leaguers. All which becomes worse when it quickly turns into war.
1. CHAPTER 1: SUPERMAN

_**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS SUCH AS SUPERMAN, BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN, ETC. ARE ALL COPYRIGHT PROPERTY TO DC COMICS. NO PROFIT IS BEING MADE FROM THIS STORY, AND THUS ITS PURPOSE IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IN OTHER WORDS, PLEASE DON'T SUE. ALSO, THIS STORY IS A PROJECT WRITTEN BY NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT BY FELLOW WRITER AND COMIC FAN, BELLHOP! I THANK HIM FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS, AND WE HOPE THAT THIS IS A PROJECT THAT ALL FANS CAN LOVE! ANYWHO, ENJOY!**_

CHAPTER 1: SUPERMAN

It seemed like any other typical late afternoon in Metropolis. From cars moving along in light traffic, to people moving along the streets, many of whom heading home after a long day at work. A one person was eager to head back to his home after a trying day, but he was not among the thousands of people in the streets, but rather high above them in the sky. He was a white, black haired, athletically built man in his early thirties, wearing a skin tight blue jumpsuit with red boots, belt, cape and a red and yellow diamond shaped emblem on his chest with an 'S' in the center. Though his real name was Kal-El from the long dead world of Krypton, he was known by his friends and adopted family as Clark Kent, and to the rest of the world, he was known as Superman!

He had just finished in dealing with an earthquake in Bosnia, which thankfully was only a four point zero, a level that Clark deemed easy to handle. While soaring through the skies, Clark could hear the cheering of the citizens below, both adults and children and couldn't help but smile just a little. Though the reason for choosing the life of a hero was never about recognition, he had to admit, he did enjoy being the champion of the people of not just Metropolis, but the entire world. Being the person that they can always look up to and depend on when they need help. And more importantly, he cherished being loved by one woman, one that he viewed as the most beautiful and wisest woman on Earth.

That woman being Lois Lane, a stubborn, opinionated, but fair and honest reporter of the paper they both worked for, the Daily Bugle. Though Clark met her in the guise of a glasses wearing, mild manner fellow reporter, it was only when he, as Superman, gave her an exclusive interview and soon began to fell for her. After which, they've dated for many months, until the fateful day came when he revealed his secret to her, and before long, took her as his bride. Clark cherished every minute he was with her, and it was after dealing with the earthquake in Bosnia that he was flying home faster than normal. For just as they got off work, which at the same time, the earthquake had occurred, Lois made her promise to deal with it quickly and come home…because she had something important to tell him. And it was at this moment that Clark was finally just a few feet away from their apartment building's rooftop, and he was happy that he would be able to keep his promise to his wife after all.

With great speed, Clark flew over and landed on the roof, and after looking around and using his hearing to see that no one was around, he walked over to roof door, opened it and entered the stairway. Then, using his incredible speed, he literally zipped down the stairs, while at the same time, pulling out a special golden box which was 'gift' created by his friends Ray Palmer and Barry Allen. He pressed the button, which caused a set of clothes, which was a business suit, black dress shoes and a pair of glasses, to grow and fly out. For Clark, he caught the clothes and effortlessly put them on over his costume, and by the time he reached the door leading to his and Lois floor, he was already dressed as Clark Kent, the now off duty reporter of the Daily Bugle. As he opened the door and enter the hallway, he spotted two more neighbors walking by, and soon changed to a hunched posture and gave his neighbors a friendly but meek wave as he walked right past them. Clark was always careful about maintaining his secret identity; in his day to day life he used different body language, mannerisms, and tone of voice. All of that combine help maintain the illusion that he and Superman were two different people. He even managed to fool Lois, though she seemed to figure that something was different about him. Clark was glad that his identity was mostly hidden, save for a few close personal friends and family. As he approached his front door, he couldn't help but be grateful to Bruce who helped maintain his alter ego whenever 'Superman' entered and left this apartment building. After all, this building owned by Wayne Industries, and Bruce himself could alter satellite feeds and surveillance footage to help keep his secret. Clark appreciated how Bruce would go the extra mile for him, especially when he was often busy with his 'night life' as Gotham City's Dark Knight, Batman. So much so, that Bruce rarely made any public appearances in Justice League meetings, and had to settle to just being a part-timer.

Finally, Clark opened the front door and entered the apartment, finally relaxing after long day working both jobs as a reporter and city's champion. "Lois, I'm back," Clark said closing the door behind him. He didn't see her in the living room where he left her, using a little super hearing, he heard the familiar sound of typing coming from their shared office. While the couple did in fact share the office, in reality it was more Lois's than his. He had his very own Fortress of Solitude to go to write down his various reports and novels. She on the other hand preferred her little writing room, full of old books and stories from past adventures.

"I'm in here, Clark," responded the attractive, brown hair Lois Lane from her work computer. She was recently asked to write a short story for a beloved fantasy film called 'Swords & Sorcerers' that was celebrating its thirty fifth anniversary. She was writing for free, as the proceeds were being donated for a children's charity. "And before you say anything, Smallville, I have spell check on."

As Clark walked into the office, he smiled at his wife's snappy comment. "Lois, I would never make fun of your spelling." He joked.

Lois gave her husband a raised eyebrow as she got up from her chair. "Right," she said coyly as she got up for her chair, walked over and kissed him on the cheek, as well as wrap her arms around his neck. "Anyway, since you're now here, I can give you some good news."

"Really, anything from the publisher?" Clark asked his wife curiously.

"No, not about my book," Lois sighed as she took his hand into hers. "I know that we have been working on having children for a while. With us being from two different species, I almost had given us hope But…"

"But?" asked Clark, looking puzzled and allowed his eyes to grow wide as he suspected what Lois was going to reveal next.

"I came back from the doctor today," Lois told her husband, then placed his hand on her belly as she told him what they wanted to hear for the longest time. "I'm one month pregnant!" With the revelation, Lois looked up at the now happy husband with tears in her eyes.

For the ecstatic Clark, he could do nothing but grab Lois's head from behind, his fingers interlaced in her brown hair and gently guided Lois's head until her lips to meet his own. Sadly though, Clark is forced to cut the kiss short and pull away as he was alerted by faint sounds via his super hearing. Namely the sounds of explosions and screams of panic.

Lois noticed her husband's worried expression, and though she knew someone might need Clark's help, she still looked a bit annoyed. "Let me guess, duty calls?"

"Afraid so," Clark replied somewhat reluctantly while still looking in the direction of where he heard the chaotic sounds. "And it sounds like the trouble is in…Suicide Slum!" At that moment, Clark gently pulled away from his embrace, all so he can have the room need to spin around in great speed, and moments later, he stopped, fully clothed in his Superman costume.

For Lois herself, it was a sight that she would never get tired of seeing, and thus couldn't help but smile at him, then walked over and gave him a good luck kiss on the cheek. "Well, whatever's causing trouble over there, Kent, get it done quick so we can continue celebrating."

"Don't worry," replied Clark as he gently touched Lois's cheek and give her a small smile. "I won't be long," With that said, Clark ran out of the office and towards the double doors leading to the balcony outside. Once he opened them, Clark ran out, then leapt up and flew into the air and straight towards Suicide Slum to help the people in need.

Lois walked over to the balcony what watched her husband fly off, all the while, holding her right hand over stomach, where her unborn child was resting. "You better, Smallville," she said quietly. "Because now, we're having a kid that needs a father."

Meanwhile, over in Suicide Slums, the part of Metropolis that was already plagued with street crime, it was sheer pandemonium as people ran away in terror from a large, bulky man with long red hair and wearing a black jumpsuit with yellow bracelets, boots, belt and a chest plate. Though he was born Baran Flinders, he was known by his fellow metahumans, be it hero or villain, as Mammoth. And he showed the fear filled residents of Suicide Slum why he had such a name by using his inhuman strength to smash and destroy anything in his path. For Mammoth himself, the reason for this rampage had two purposes. One, to let out some anger after being kicked out of his team, the Frightful Five. And two, since he knew that he was being watched by either people with iPhones or News fans or choppers, he could let his now former teammates see what they've been missing, as well attract the attention of Superman and beat him into a pulp, which would only further prove his team's mistake in 'kicking him out of the band.' As such, he continued his path of destruction by smashing his fists into the hood of a nearby Buick, with so much force, the wheels popped out of their hinges. Afterwards, he picks the now destroy vehicle up of the pavement and over his head, then threw it into the air like a javelin.

To make things worse, the airborne destroyed car was heading towards a scared black woman who was holding her five-year-old son and began running off in terror. Sadly, as fast as she ran, the woman couldn't out run the car while it was coming in at such speed, and she and her son would have been crushed to death…

…if Clark hadn't quickly flown in and grabbed the wrecked car by the front, successfully catching it before it could squash the woman and her child.

At first, the woman seemed a bit confused, feeling certain that both she and her son would've been crushed by now. But as she turned around and looked up to see Clark hovering over her and holding the car like an empty cardboard box, she was astonished at his display of strength, as well as grateful for him saving her and her child's lives. "Superman! Thank the lord!"

As for the woman's son, he looked up at Clark with wide eyed amazement. "Cool!"

Clark heard the boy's words, and thus looked over his shoulder and down at the two people he saved with a small smile. "Thanks," he told the boy, then changed his expression to a more concerned one. "But I'm afraid it's not going to get any safer around here. Go!"

The mother did not need to be told this a second time, and with her child in her arms, shave Clark a quick nod and ran away from the danger.

As Clark looked from the sky to see the woman leave the scene with her son, he is once again alerted by his hearing, namely that he heard the sound of a loud, deep roar coming his way. He looked forward and saw Mammoth had leaped into the air and was now heading straight towards him. Even though the car was already totaled, Clark still hated to resort to this, knowing that this was someone else's car and it would only upset them by adding more damage. Nevertheless, Clark knew he had no choice, and with the car still in hand, as well as hoping the driver was insured, he spun around and swung the car like a baseball bat, hitting Mammoth hard and sending him down hard to the left side and crashing down on a nearby roof.

Even after taking such a hard landing, Mammoth shook his head to regain focus, then stood back up on his feet to see Clark back on the ground and gently putting what was left of the vehicle back down on the street. Afterwards, the brutish villain saw Clark levitate up high into the air, and once the hero was up high and turn around and look down upon him, Mammoth smiled big and wide as he now had Clark's attention. "Well, well, look who's finally here!" said the grinning Mammoth. "I was starting to think that you were never going to show up and that I was trashing this place for nothing!"

Clark looked down at Mammoth with an angry glare, not liking how the long haired brute could be so callous on how he knowingly put the residents of Suicide Slum in jeopardy just to get him to come here. "Hurting innocent people is not a good way to get my attention, Mammoth!"

Mammoth was pleased to hear Clark call him by his codename, or as he now viewed it, his real name. "Wow, the great Man of Steel knows my name!" said Mammoth, smile still present as he knew that this would give him street cred with his fellow villains, as well as make him a legend once he pounded Clark into a paste. "I'm flattered."

Clark, still not amused by Mammoth's bravado, crossed his arms as he answered this monster of a man. "I'm aware of you, yes," he said truthfully. "Thanks to Nightwing and the rest of the Titans. But from what I've heard, you're supposed to be part of a group called the Fearsome Five. So, tell me, where are your friends?"

"Those jackasses," Mammoth said with a sneer. "They couldn't handle my raw power!"

"In other words, they kicked you at of the club," Clark said matter of factually.

Upon hearing Clark ask that question, as well as guess correctly, Mammoth felt nothing but pure rage take over. "That's it" Mammoth screamed at the top of his lung. "I am going to kick your ass!" With his intentions now known, Mammoth once again leapt towards the hovering Clark.

As for Clark himself, he took the initiative and flying down with his arms open, then caught Mammoth by wrapping his arms around his mid-section and pulled him up into the sky, hoping he could get him out of the heavily populated Metropolis itself. However, Clark's plan to get Mammoth out of the city as proven to be difficult, as the villain himself began to repeatedly ram the back of his elbow into Clark's back and neck, which was enough to make Clark coming crashing down on a nearby roof and land right on top of Mammoth.

Now that both he and Clark were out of the air, Mammoth used his left hand to grab Clark's hair picked him up off his body, all so he can have enough room to pull his huge legs back and kick Clark in his chest with enough force to send him flying and crashing spine first into the building's air conditioning box.

As Clark shook of the effects of the villain's last attack, it was this moment that reminded him of all the various fights over the years on how they caused massive property damage, as well as endangered the city's inhabitants. And more importantly, they gave Luthor all the ammunition he needed to try and fuel his anti-Superman campaign and try to get the people against him. All in which made Clark not want to prolong this fight, and was determined more than ever to get Mammoth off this roof and somewhere he can take him out without any innocent bystanders to get in the way. And so, with his head now cleared, Clark looked straight ahead to see Mammoth charging towards him, then stood up off the destroyed AC unit and ran towards the brute himself, who by this time pulled his left fist back and threw a left hook. Luckily for Clark, he easily spotted this attack, and thus avoided it by expertly ducking underneath the punch, then passing by underneath the giant's left side and popped up behind him, facing his back.

As for Mammoth, he looked over his shoulder to see Clark standing behind him, and pressed on in his attack by throwing a right back fist.

Clark merely took a step back to avoid the back fist, and upon remembering the blows he took earlier, he knew that Mammoth was strong, but was nowhere near as strong as such villains as Doomsday and Darkseid. Thus, for Mammoth's sake, he chose not to use his full strength to stop him from destroy more of the city and endangering any more people.

Mammoth, who was now frustrated on how his punches were missing Clark, threw a left hook to which Clark ducked and avoided easily. As he watched his red capped opponent pop right back up, Mammoth viciously threw a right upper cut, only for Clark to casually step to the left to avoid it.

While Clark could see that Mammoth was more agile than he appeared, he saw that the muscular thug lacked any sort of developed skill in hand to hand combat, instead simply relied heavily on brute strength. All in which wasn't going to cut it today.

After missing Clark, Mammoth let out a loud roar of frustration, then turned to the left side to see Clark just standing there waiting and used his right leg to let out a rage fueled front kick, aiming for the 'S' symbol on Clark's chest.

Fortunately for Clark, he easily spotted this attack coming and reacted by using both hands to catch Mammoth's foot, stopping the kick and keeping a firm enough grip to keep the brute from pulling his leg back. With just a small amount of his strength, roughly forty-five percent of it, Clark flung Mammoth into the air and out into the far reaches of the city a full speed. Afterwards, Clark leapt up into the air and gave chase, and thanks to his microscopic vision, he saw that the airborne Mammoth was disoriented by being thrown as such force, whereas for Clark, it was as natural as breathing air. Finally, as Clark followed Mammoth closely, he was pleased to see that he was going right where he wanted him: A forest area just outside the city.

As for Mammoth himself, he plowed through three trees and ended up landing and splashing chest first into a river like a cannonball and causing water to fly up like a geyser. After a few moments, Mammoth stood up out of the water in a daze and with a fish in his mouth. After shaking his head, the now soaked Mammoth looked straight ahead that caused all the anger to return.

It was Clark, who by now was lowering down hovered just inches from the ground and just a few feet away from the river and from the now seething Mammoth. "Well then," said Clark as he crossed his arms. "I trust your feeling refreshed.

Mammoth angrily spit the fist out of his mouth, then through the corner of his eye, noticed a large rock resting in the water. As such, he ran to it, then grabbed it with both hands, and with great strength, he lifted it out of the water and over his head. "You…" said the now livid Mammoth as he turned and faced the hovering 'Boy Scout'. "You're not going to make a damn fool out of me!" With fury, Mammoth threw the rock like a beach ball straight towards Clark himself.

As Clark watched the rock flying towards him, he is reminded of the story Bruce told him about Killer Croc, a villain from his rogues gallery, tried to kill him with that object that Mammoth hurled at him. And as Clark merely tilted his head to right and allowed the rock to barely pass by him, he understood how Clark must've felt. "You know Mammoth," Clark called out. "I never understood why guys like you constantly want to fight me."

Mammoth growled angrily as he walked out of the lake. "Because if some grey skinned alien with spikes all over his body can bring down the great Man of Steel, then there's hope for big guys like me that HATE boy scouts like you!" With that declaration, Mammoth ran towards Clark with fury.

However, Clark just hovered there and waited for the charging villain to come to him. And once Mammoth was close enough, Clark watched him as he threw a left hook and simply held up his left hand and easily caught the fist. "Well, sorry to disappoint you," said Clark as he made his right hand into a fist and pulled it back. "But you are no Doomsday!" With that said, Clark fought back by throwing a right upper cut, using only thirty percent of his strength and nailing Mammoth right in the jaw. Even though he put little effort into the punch, Clark was still able to send Mammoth just fifteen feet up into the air.

Suddenly, it was at this exact moment that another surprise presented itself. Namely that what appeared to be a purple and gold blur came flying down from the sky and struck Mammoth in his abdomen, which resulted in the two of them to crash into the ground and create a large dust cloud.

Clark was understandably surprised and confused by this, and thus used his X-Ray vision to see through the dust to find out what it was that came down and brought Mammoth back down to Earth. And, much to Clark's shock, it wasn't a what, but rather who.

Namely that it was a bulky humanoid man with what appeared to be a metallic body, with his legs and arms painted gold and his head and upper body dark purple. In another life, he was once Sergeant Clifford Zmeck, but thanks to an experiment he under took in the Vietnam War, he became a being of pure energy that had to be contained in a purple and gold shell that formed his humanoid appearance. Since then, he has since been known by many heroes as the powerful and psychotic killer named Major Force.

Naturally, Clark was shocked by this revelation, for last he heard, the psychopath was supped to be dead. Killed in a battle against the Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. "Major Force!" Clark called out in disbelief.

As for Major Force himself, he heard the baffled Clark call his name, and upon turning to face him, gave him a smirk. "Well, well, Mr. Man of Steel," he said as he stepped off the unconscious Mammoth and walked towards Clark, who by now looked defensive. Once Major Force stopped walking and was now face to face with Clark himself, he pointed his right thumb over his shoulder and towards the now slumbering Mammoth behind him. "Kind of rude of you to hog all the fun in dealing with this meathead, don't you think?"

"Only you would consider hurting others fun," replied a scowling Clark, not taking kindly to how the metallic skinned being just callously rammed Mammoth into the ground, and thanks to his super hearing, he could hear the unconscious brute breathing normally, which meant that Major Force didn't break his ribs, something that wasn't short of a miracle. "But more importantly, how are you alive? We all thought you were dead."

Major Force responded by letting out a chuckle. "Sorry Big Blue, but that's classified."

For Clark, he found this answer insulting, and was just about to ask the villain again, but this time with a more forceful approach. However, before he could get one word out, Clark is stopped when he heard the sounds of jet engines and spinning helicopter blades. Moments later, he looked up and saw that the sources of the sounds were three military choppers and a large, metallic hovercraft that looked big enough to hold a rhino. As the helicopters approached, Clark used his X-Ray to vision to see who was inside the choppers and hovercraft, to which he noticed were mostly lined with lead and unable to scan the vehicles. But that didn't mean he couldn't listen to the heartbeats of the assailants, and to his surprise he heard a familiar voice.

It was that belonging to a man in his late fifties and early sixties, but still sounded strong and stern. "All right people, as soon as we land, I want that damn beast bagged up in ten seconds flat! Get me?!"

"Yes sir!" replied a crowd of men in unison, all sounding strong and united, as expected in men in the military.

For Clark, this old man's voice was one he knew quite well. One in which was related to his wife and soon to be mother of his child. "You've got to be kidding me!"


	2. CHAPTER 2: BATMAN

CHAPTER 2: BATMAN

It was the dead of night outside the headquarters building of Gen Tech in downtown Gotham. And aside from honking horns and police sirens filling the air, it was a typical night in Gotham City. Three shot dead in an armed robbery gone wrong and the Gotham Knights defeated the Star City Rockets five to four to win the World Series. A result in which would make Oliver Queen pay one man in particular one million dollars in a bet he made with him, but that was something that had to wait. For and that man, Bruce Wayne, a man in which the world knew as a billionaire playboy, but for tonight, he put the rich boy façade to bed as he was in his black and grey battle gear with large bat symbol on his chest, as well as wearing a black cape and a full head mask with pointy ears like that of a bat. It was this attire that helped make his other persona, and one in which he viewed as his true self, as Gotham City's Dark Knight, the Batman!

On this night, Bruce was standing on the ledge of a building that was ride across the street from the seemingly innocent Gen Tech company building and looking at it through binoculars. With any luck there won't be anything to this place, but Bruce doubted it. Gen tech was a company on the rise, thanks to its founders Ian Pearson shrewd business tactics. In the last five years, it has partnered with Wayne Tech to distribute the Clench's cure earning them national praise. But four months ago, Tim and Barbara noticed something off in the reports, but Bruce was too busy investigating a resurgence in mob activities. Now, Bruce was here to deal with this matter personally, for if there was one thing he hated more than mob gangs or super powered lunatics, it was corrupt business men using anything related to his father's company for their own twisted purposes.

As such, Bruce was just about to proceed to the Gen tech building, but briefly stopped when he heard faint footsteps. Something that would go unnoticed by ordinary people, but not to someone who has had years of martial arts training like himself. And so, with a sigh of slight annoyance, he said this to the person who, in his mind, just made a failed attempt at a quiet entrance. "You really need to work on your stealth skills, Tim," said Bruce, still looking at the Gen Tech building ahead.

Moments later, the person to whom Bruce was referring to soon stepped out of the shadows, and is revealed to be that of a short haired man named Tim Drake, but clad in a black eye mask, a red shirt with the letter 'R' on the right side of his chest, green gloves and pants with black boots and a hood cape with the outside being black and the inside being yellow. The costume that made his guise as the Batman's faithful partner, Robin. "Hey, what can I say?" Tim replied with a lighthearted tone. "Barb and I just got back from a trip. She says 'hi' by the way." Tim saw that Bruce didn't answer him, but smiled anyway. For he knew that while his mentor was focused on the objective at hand, as well as keeping up the 'brooding loner' act, he knew that deep down he still cared. "So, I take it you already know that there are four guards stationed on the roof?"

"Five actually," Bruce said while checking his read out of the building. "I had Batgirl do a little recon before we arrived. There should be another one coming on for their shift in thirty seconds."

Though Tim took this response seriously, it still seemed routine for someone of his experience. "And I'm guessing the plan is to take out the five guards, while moving too fast for them to react, then sneak into the building and take down the one running this company dirty?"

"No," Bruce replied sharply, which surprised Tim, then held up his right fist and used his left fingertip to press a button on his gauntlet, which revealed the digital schematics of the Gen Tech building. Moments later, he pointed at the bottom of the building, which was the lobby. "In fact, that is our point of entry." After giving his answer, Bruce pressed the button again to deactivate the image and looked down at the actual bottom of the Gen Tech building with a narrow brow. "And just like the roof, the lobby has five guards."

Naturally, Tim was taken aback by this, as Bruce always wanted to start from the roof and work his way down and this brazen approached seemed completely out of the norm, at least when it came to Bruce himself. "Direct approach, huh?" he asked sounding a little worried. "But you did say that there's five guards down there. So really hoping that you've thought of a way past them."

"I did," Bruce replied in his usual calm, albeit cold tone, then proceeded to walk towards the edge of the roof. "Try to keep up," With that said, Bruce jumped off the ledge and safely glided down the to the street below thanks to opening his large cape, which also created his 'large descending bat' illusion.

As for Tim, he only shook his head and let out a somewhat annoyed sigh. "Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up," he said sarcastically, thinking that Bruce could have explained more of his plan when he first called him. Nevertheless, he followed his old mentor by jumping off the roof and used his cape to glide down the street safely.

Meanwhile, inside the Gen Tech lobby, the five guards were present and accounted for. The first two were two twin Caucasian males named Johnny and Lonnie, and were station at the front elevators. Two more men, one a balding, muscular built white man named Stu, and the other a black, also built black man named Danny, were standing in front of the front doors. And the last being a Phil, an over white, bald white man sitting at the front desk and looking at the monitors that showed the outside and inside of the building.

At the front door, Stu briefly turned to Danny and asked him this since it was quiet. "So how about it, Dan," he whispered. "Did you see that game?"

"You know it, Stu," Dan answered with a laugh. "Gotham Knights never let me down. Speaking of, make sure Phil pay's me, you know how he is."

"I'll remind him for both of us," Stu replied bitterly as he then looked at Phil at the front desk. "He still owes me fifty bucks from our last bet. Friggin' scumbag."

As for Phil himself, he continued to watch the monitors and saw that everything was normal. Slow and boringly normal. _"Great, another night where the only thing I try to prevent is falling asleep,"_ he thought, then turned to his fellow guards at the front door. _"Well, at least tomorrow when I get paid, I'll have enough to pay both those schmucks, so they won't bust my balls!"_ As the irritated Phil turned back to the monitors, he received a not so pleasant surprise when one of the screens went dark, until one by one, all the screens turned off. "What the-?!" Phil whispered in disbelief, then suddenly, all the lights in turned off and the whole lobby became purged in darkness. All which left Phil, and the rest of his fellow guards, completely dumbfounded. "What the hell's going on?!"

Outside the Gen Tech, the source of the lobby's black out was that of Bruce who, along with Tim, were standing by the building's service entrance, with Bruce himself holding the handheld Cryptographic Sequencer, which he used to shut down the security cameras and the lobby's lights. Finally, after completing one sequence that turned off the security alarms, Bruce folded the sequencer and placed it back into his utility belt, then pressed a hidden button on the right temple of his cowl which activated his night vision program in his mask's eye lenses. "Let's go," Bruce ordered as he casually opened the door and entered the now darkened room inside.

Tim remembered practicing this sequence with Bruce until they were nearly perfect, and while he knew they he and Bruce always worked together, part of him always felt like he could never measure up to Dick or Jason. Sighing to himself, he put those thoughts out of his mind and he pressed a secret button on the upper right corner of his mask, then followed Bruce inside the building to complete the job.

Meanwhile, back inside the now dark lobby, the guards all with guns drawn, were on the verge of pure panic. "Crap!" yelled Phil as he held up his loaded assault rifle. "What the hell is that?"

Suddenly, the next noises to be heard were the painful grunting of Stu and Dan at the front doors. This was due to Stu having his hand gun being knocked out of his hand by one of Bruce's bat-shaped throwing weapon, the Batarang. And the second being Dan losing his arm when he felt Tim's Birdarang, which was like Bruce's throwing weapon, but had a more bird-like design to fit with his namesake. A split-second lad, more grunts came from Stu and Dan, but this time, it was from Bruce running in between them and giving Stu, a stiff left handed back fist, while at the same time, using his right leg to give Dan a stiff side kick to his jaw. Both attacks resulted in knocking both guards out and sending them falling to the floor unconscious.

Tim then took his turn by to the twin guards at the elevator doors, and acts by using the bottom half of his staff to hit Lonnie in the face, then quickly spinning around, and use the back of the same half of his staff to hit Johnny in the forehead, all with speed that was too fast for them to open their rounds and knocking them so senseless, there was nothing for them to do but fall to the floor.

As for the terrified last guard Phil, he quickly turned frantically in the dark, ready to shoot aimlessly. "Who's there?!" he screamed. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Suddenly, Phil gets his answer when Bruce dashed in from the left side, then used his left hand to get and point the shotgun downward, all the while placing his other hand behind Phil's head and slammed his face into the desk, resulting in the last guard falling to the floor and into unconsciousness.

With the guards now taken care of, Tim causally walks over to the desk, stepping over the sleeping Phil's large body along the way. "You know, I can't help but feel bad for these guys sometimes." Tim said as he made his way to the desk and checked out the screens. Sure enough, on one screen, Tim finds the man they were looking for, Iran Pearson, who was a non-descript Caucasian male of medium height and average built. From what Tim heard about him, he had a strong mind for science and business, in some respects reminded him of Bruce. While he obviously lacked his muscular built he made up for it with his keen intellect. From what Tim saw, it looked like Ian was in an underground lab, typing on a small computer that was mounted on to a giant chamber. "That's our boy," said Tim. "And it looks like he's working on something big."

Bruce was watching the monitors with Tim, and thanks to looking and memorizing the building's layout hours before, he knew where Ian's lab was located. "Then let's do our jobs and investigate," said Bruce as he walked away from the desk and over to a door just outside the lobby. As he opened it, it is showed to be that of a janitor's closet, which would fool any normal man, but as Bruce proved time and time again, he was anything but. As such, he grabbed and pulled on what looked like a mop, but, it was a lever that caused the back wall to open and reveal a secret elevator. And for a man who had a secret headquarters hidden behind his grandfather clock, the notion of a secret entrance amused him. Afterwards, Bruce looked over his right shoulder to see that Tim had indeed followed him. "Come on," he told his partner. "Pearson's lab is at the bottom floor, and this will take us right to him."

As Tim watched Bruce enter the elevator, he couldn't help but shrug on how easily he found the secret entrance to Ian's lab, as by now, it was unexpected. "Oh, I can hardly wait," he said sarcastically, knowing that Ian must have some defenses ready in case his lab was found out and were mostly like defenses built by Lex Luthor or any mad genius he and Bruce fought over the years.

Once both Bruce and Tim were inside the elevator, Bruce pressed the only one button which led to the bottom floor, which caused the wall close and Gotham's Dynamic Duo go down to the bottom of the building to confront Pearson and stop whatever sick agenda he had in mind.

Meanwhile, inside the lab below the building, Ian is just finishing a few calculations before testing out his latest pet project. One that was sure to get him high praise on his 'new friends in high places.' And to think, at first, he really did want to use his genius brain to make things better for everyone. But he later found out that like most things, it costs money, and after so many years of not turning a profit, he began to get desperate. His company was losing money fast thanks to the time and resources it needed to run. That is until the widely known business Mongol, Lex Luthor, came to his aid by secretly giving his company a buy out in exchange for working for the newly established Hunan Defense Corps. With that, his company could finally be what he always dreamed it to be. It didn't hurt that he could get to work with cutting edge technology and advance alien lifeforms. "There we are," said Ian, finally finishing the last of his calculations. "Now to begin the test run."

However, the pleasant feeling he felt when all was going to plan is shattered when he heard the elevator door open, and as he turned around to see who was coming in, his eyes grew as large as softballs and his skin turned white with horror.

It was that of Bruce and Tim, who both casually walked into the lab with Bruce scowling and Tim looking around the room, amazed on how Ian kept this equipment well hidden from the people who work in the building.

Nevertheless, Ian took try and calm down and let out a cough as he tried to compose himself. "B-Batman and Robin," said Ian as he slowly and carefully placed his hand next to the terminal, and more importantly, the button to activate what he's been working on. "I wasn't expecting you tonight."

Tim wasn't fooled by Ian's calm demeanor. He could see the fear still present in the scientist, which made him pity him all the much more. "You'd be surprised by how often we hear that," Tim said nonchalantly.

As for Bruce, he merely narrowed his eyes at Ian, something he did to all criminals to instill fear into their hearts. "It's over, Pearson."

"Really? I didn't realize I was being charged with a crime," Ian smiled and looked like he was doing a Luthor impersonation. "Everything here is perfectly legal. You on the other hand are breaking and entering private property, along with a host of crimes you've no doubt committed tonight."

Bruce kept a stone face upon hearing this remark, knowing that he's heard millions similar from mobsters and other rouge scientists, and just like them, he had the evidence needed to dispute that claim.

Tim, on the other hand, appeared to be confused upon hearing Ian's confident reply. "Legal, what are you talking about?"

With a confident smile still present, Ian went on to explain. "While I do maintain a healthy working relationship with Wayne Tech. I wouldn't be anywhere if not for Luthor's intervention. He saw my company's potential, so he put in a good word with the government and here we are."

Bruce, upon hearing Luthor's name, gave Ian a scowl. "I hate to burst your bubble, but like many other people that are in his employ, Luthor sees you as an expendable asset. And as of now, you've just been expended."

"I don't think so," said Ian as he then pushed a button on his terminal. A second later, there was a hissing sound.

Bruce looked down the hallway on to see some type of pod open.

At first, large amounts of steam exited the pod, until moments later, what appeared to be two glowing red eyes appeared out of the darkness and moved closer to the pod's opened doors. Moments later, the pod's occupant stepped out, and it appeared to be a large, eight-foot tall, orange skinned humanoid with a large, muscular upper body, pointy ears and appeared to be wearing a red cap on his head, as well as wearing green wrist gauntlets, pants and boots, with a belt that had an 'A' shaped buckle.

All which prompted the smiling Ian to give this introduction. "Gentlemen, I give you the future of the government's defense against metahumans, and my masterpiece…Amazo!"

While Bruce seemed to be not bothered or shocked by this revelation, namely that he, along with the original Robin, Dick 'Nightwing' Grayson and the rest of the League fought previous Amazo model's numerous times, Tim seemed to be completely stunned, as while he has heard of Bruce fighting and bring down Amazo robots, this was the first time he saw one. Nevertheless, Tim managed to shake off what nervousness he was feeling, then turned his attention to Ian, who was still had a large grin on his face. "How did you get ahold of Amazo?" asked Tim, with his staff still in hand.

"I suppose I could tell you," Ian said cockily. "But it wouldn't matter…seeing is how the both of you are about to be reduced to nothing but ash!" With that said, Ian soon held up his right hand to show a metallic wrist bracelet which he designed and built to be a second relay to this newest Amazo android, and pressed a glowing red button in the center of the bracelet.

This in turn caused Amazo's eyes began to flicker, and moments later, he pulled his head back and let out an animalistic roar as he fired two red lasers from out of his eyes, with the Dynamic Duo being his targets.

Luckily though, both Bruce and Tim dodged the blasts coming their way, with Bruce jumping to the left side and Tim jumping to the right. "Lasers! He's got lasers!" the wide-eyed Tim called out, in a tone that Bruce of Dick, who last time he checked was working a case in Bludhaven, and silently wished that he was here to lend a helping hand.

As for Amazo, though he missed his two targets, he charged his eyes once again, then looked to the left, and as he fired his blasts once again, he slowly turned to the right, intending to chop Bruce's head from his shoulders.

Bruce saw this and instantly ducked to avoid the blast and save himself from being decapitated. However, the blast sill moved to the right, and soon lowered and headed straight towards Tim's legs. Fortunately for that Batman's young partner, he avoided this by jumping and flipping in a corkscrew motion to the left side to save his legs from getting shot off. As he landed, Tim waited for Amazo to stop firing his blasts, then fought back by placing his staff in his left hand, all so he could use his other hand to reach behind his belt and throw three Birdarangs at the android.

However, Amazo sees the weapons coming his way, and reveals another surprise by throwing his left arm in an inward motion, using his motion to deflect the first Birdarang off of his gauntlet, then did the same motion with his right arm to deflect the second Birdrang, and stopped the third and final one by throwing his left arm upward. A defensive method used by one of Bruce's friends, Diana of Themyscira, otherwise known as Wonder Woman. Amazo then went back on the offensive by utilizing of Ian's improvements, more accurately, mentally commanding a few nanites to come flying out of his right gauntlet and into his palm like liquid, then form into what looked like Bruce's batarangs, but with an 'A' symbol on the cent. With a new weapon in hand, Amazo threw it straight towards Tim himself.

As for Tim, he evaded the 'Amazo-rang' by leaning all the way backward and causing the weapon to hit and lodged itself into the wall behind him. The surprised Tim then looked up at the Amazo-rang while he was still leaning backward, and watched as it crumbled into dust. _"Okay, I had a feeling that tonight was going crazier than usual, but damn!"_

As for Bruce, he was the next to fight back by reaching in his belt and throwing three black pellets.

Naturally, Amazo saw this, and once again utilizes the nanites in his body to flow into right ring finger and form a silver ring with an 'A' in the middle. He then held it in front of his body, concentrated, and created a glowing green shield construct, an ability like that of Hal Jordan, or any other member of the Green Lantern Corps. As expected, the pellets hit the construct, but upon making contact, they exploded and completely consumed Amazo in a large cloud of smoke. After making the construct disappear, Amazo waved his hand to blow the smoke away.

But as he did so, the android received quite the shock when Bruce came running in, then jumped towards him with his right fist pulled back, then threw and landed a powerful right hook on the android's right eye. Thanks to the steel lining in his glove, Bruce was able to throw the punch without breaking his hank, while at the same time, he ended up ripping the orange flesh around Amazo's right eye socket and temple, thus revealing the pure steel underneath.

As Bruce controlled his fall by rolling forward and ending up in a kneeling position, Amazon turned to face the Dark Knight, clinched both of his large fist and held them up over his head, intending to smash Bruce and splatter his remains all over the floor.

However, before the android could do so, he alerted when he felt what must've been a steel pole tap behind his right knee. As he looked down, he saw that Tim was there simply placing the bottom of his staff right behind Amazo's knee and holding it in place as oppose to just tripping him.

Taking a moment of hesitation, Bruce turned to face Amazo, who was too busy looking down at Tim, then pulled out putty from his utility belt. He rarely needed to use such a thing, but his facing off against Metahuman caused him to think more outside the box. As such, he quickly jumped up on to Amazo's chest and placed the handful of the putty into the android's eyes. Afterwards, Bruce capitalized by using both of his feet to kick the blinded Amazo's chest and perform a back flip, all the while Tim pushed his staff upward and worked together with his mentor in tripping the android and causing him to fall on his back.

After Bruce landed safely on his feet, Tim moved beside him, and the two masked heroes watched as Amazo roll on his back and up on his feet, all the while trying to get putty out of his eyes, all which left Tim worried. "Uh, I don't think putty in his eyes is going to bring him down, boss!"

"No, but it will slow him down for now," In truth, Bruce knew that what Tim was probably right. But now was the time to take down Amazo and bring in Pearson. Thinking quickly to himself, he pulled out a small black hand sized box with the tip of his thumb on a red button. "You still keep that box I gave you?"

It took Tim a second, but he got what Bruce was going for and pulled out the small black box from his belt, and remembered that Bruce told him that both he and Tim would press them both to add an extra charge to the putty, which in reality was a plastic explosive, and would explode to stop either a large metahuman or robot. "Just say the word!"

Meanwhile, Ian stood in shock as he watched how Bruce and Tim were holding their own against Amazo, even after the improvements he made. What he found most troubling was when he saw Bruce and Tim pulled out those two black boxes. "W-What are those two doing?"

Bruce watched as the Amazo, despite his great strength, still struggled to get the putty off his face, and felt that now was as good as time as any to bring the android down once and for all. "Now!" With that order, both Bruce and Tim pressed their buttons, both in the same speed, showing how in sync they were as a team.

Suddenly, the putty that covered Amazo's eyes soon began to spark with electricity, a sign of it growing chemically unstable. A split second later, a loud explosion took place, forcing Bruce and Tim to use their capes to cover their face's and Ian himself to take cover behind the pod. For a few minutes, smoke covered the android, until finally, it faced away and showed that the once deadly Amazo now had no head, then fell forward and landed chest first into the floor.

Moments later, Bruce and Tim pulled their capes away to see the now headless android on the floor, with Tim letting out a relieved sigh. "Well then," said Tim, placing the charge back in his belt. "That was interesting."

Bruce was inclined to agree with his young partner, but knew that they were far from finished. For he then heard fast footsteps, no doubt of a certain someone running away, and as he turned to where he heard them, he saw that they were coming from the now scared Iran frantically running towards a doorway which led to a secret passageway out of the lab and into an escape tunnel.

However, Ian would not escape justice this night, and thus pulled out his bolos, spun them and threw them at the scientist's legs, which soon wrapped around his knees and caused Ian to fall face first on to the floor.

The result of such a rough landing was that of a broken nose with blood gushing out of the nostrils. But dispute this, Ian looked over to address Bruce and Tim. "Y-You've got nothing on me!" Ian yelled, trying to sound tough to mask his fear, knowing that Lex does not tolerate failures like this. "Except a lawsuit of intervening in government activity, and thanks to my now broken nose, a case of assault! And thanks to me being part of the government, I'll have the best lawyers, the best-!"

Bruce stopped Ian's fear filled ran by getting down right in to Ian's face and looking at him with a narrowed brow. "I know a lot about lawyers, and trust me Pearson, you are going to have a fun time in prison!" Bruce said grimly, for while he knew that Ian was going prison, he doubted that this man would be going to the type of prison he deserved. Villains rarely do, especially white-collar ones.

As Ian gazed into Bruce's angry, cold stare, he could feel whatever confidence he had shatter and his body shiver uncontrollably and faint out of pure fright. A trait to which usually happened when criminals meet Gotham's Dark Knight, and Ian was no different.

Bruce backed away from the now unconscious Ian, then moments later, heard alerted to a beeping noise coming from his right gauntlet, which meant he was receiving a message. After holding his arm up as if he were looking at a wrist watch, he used his left finger to press a button to see who was calling him at a time like this. Once he saw what was on the screen, Bruce let out an irritable sigh.

For Tim, seeing his mentor irritated was hardly a good thing, and was understandably just as concerned. "Please tell me that that's not letting you know that the Joker escaped from Arkham again."

"No," Bruce replied, not sounding to thrilled, for was he looked down at his gauntlet, he saw that it was a text reading: 'Bruce, I need you're help, Clark.' All which prompted the annoyed Bruce to tell Tim this. "It's someone asking me for a favor."


	3. CHAPTER 3: WONDER WOMAN

**CHAPTER 3: WONDER WOMAN**

Inside the Gateway City Museum of Natural History, people were filling all the rooms. Be it parents taking their children to see the exhibits, or a class of elementary school kids standing in front of a skeleton of a Triceratops, to which their teacher, a sixty-year-old Caucasian woman explaining what the dinosaur was and how it was found by archeologists and pieced together.

Along the way, there was one woman, a tall, thin but built woman with long black hair in pony tail, wearing black glasses, dressed in a white shirt and black long skirt, walking through the buildings halls and looked quite pleased to see that the museum had this much people to see the artifacts and learn from years pass. As she walked around the museum as Diana Prince, curator of the Department of Antiques, she was actually Diana, Princess and Ambassador of Themyscria, and island of Amazonian Warriors, and known throughout the world as Wonder Woman. And while she used her Amazonian abilities to protect the world, she found her role as museum curator more promising, feeling that she can help the world by educating its children with pieces of the world's history to help them make the world a better place for years to come.

While walking down the halls of the museum, Diana was still trying to get over the shock of receiving a phone call from earlier. One that was from her friend, Agent Andrea Gallant inviting her to her place for dinner. In truth, her feelings for Agent Gallant were more than one of professional admiration. Like Steve, she found her to be a friendly, easy going person to get along with who was kind to nearly everyone. Diana was happy to hear from her, as she all but dropped off the radar for her role as superhero. Five years ago, the agent had been as a hero operating out of Boston under the name Captain Triumph. They worked together once but she found a kindred spirt with the woman. Then all of the sudden, she left a message, informing her that she was taking some time off to focus on her private life. It was all too common occurrence amongst superheroes. Even Bruce and Kal had had to take time off to rest and be with their loved ones. She respected Andrea's wishes and let her handle problems here own way. Occasionally, Diana would hear a word of Captain Triumph making an appearance somewhere close to Andrea's location, but it was ever conclusive. So, she was glad that her friend was working on the DEO, and catch up.

Finally, Diana made it to her destination: The Department of Antiques, where it was a large room that was rich with items from various cultures. From African, Spanish, and what was close to her personally, Greek. Moments later, one of the exhibit's staff, a middle-aged Caucasian man in his mid-forties, with thinning brown hair and wearing a grey suit, spotted Diana while he was hold an old pot with ancient Greek drawings and soon approached her. "Ah, Ms. Prince, just the person I needed to see," he said in a delighted tone as he approached, then presented her with the pot. "You asked to preserve this?"

"Oh yes, thank you!" said a pleased Diana as she took the pot, all the while slowing down so that the staff member could keep up with her pace. For Diana, seeing anything Greek was always a treat for her, for it not only reminded her of Themyscira, and hoped that it would help be a stepping stone of perhaps one day have people be curious about her home and would want to know more about.

"You're quite welcome," said the staff member, glad to see Diana's elated expression. Which was why he seemed somewhat hesitant to ask her this. "Also, the Director has asked me to ask you when 'Wonder Woman' was going to make a special appearance to the Museum?"

"I'll have to get back to him on that," replied a reluctant Diana as she looked at her watch. Not that she didn't mind having Wonder Woman be a positive influence for the younger museum visitors, it also added more stress for her life. For whether it was as a hero, ambassador, or her work in this Museum, her life just kept getting busier by the second and barely had any time off or any real downtime. She never had the benefit of a secret identity like Kal or Bruce, not that she truly wanted one. She like being herself. The only thing she disliked was the lack of privacy she had from being such a popular figure. Still, she decided to make a mental note that before this day was done, she would plan a day where she could finally have a day off.

However, little did Diana or any of the museum staff know, this seemingly peaceful day was about to be disrupted. For just outside the Museum itself, two figures dressed in trench coats and brown fedoras were standing just across the street and watching people walk up the Museum's stairway to both enter and exit the building.

One of the coated figures looked at the building, revealing herself to be female by with a feline shaped nose and eyes, and began sniffing the air. "The Amazon's scent ends here," she said in an English accent, as well as sounding like she was in her late twenties, early thirties. "But if I know Diana, there is no way she would leave this place unprotected, for the sake of those 'sheep' that walk into that place!"

The other coated figure, also a female, heard her partner's words and thus caused her eyes to glow into a gold color as she looked around the museum. Sure enough, she looked on to the right of the stairway, and saw that there was a drawing of what appeared to be that of a female in Greek warrior armor. Of course, she knew that this was to resemble that of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, and that this sculpture was that of a protection spell that would repel anyone with lust for violence to enter the building. "I'm afraid your instincts ring true, Minerva," said the coated figure. "It looks like the Amazon gave this building a spell that would protect the people she so loves."

Minerva looked around, and soon noticed a small family, a Caucasian man and woman and their five-year-old daughter, and seemed to get a that made her smile. "Well, if we can't get her attention inside the museum," she said in a devious tone. "Perhaps we can so outside…with a little help, of course!"

Meanwhile, back inside the museum, Diana was back at her desk, looking closely at the Ancient Greek pot. That's when a familiar light appeared before her. God's always had to be so theatrical with their appearance Diana thought. The light then took the shape of Lady Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. She dressed plainly, like that of a librarian. In some ways, she reminded her of her good friend Barbara Gordon. Though unlike her, she didn't have an owl on her shoulder. "Child, I have need of you."

For a moment, Diana looked around to see that no one was around, then got up from her desk and knelt before the disguised goddess. "Lady Athena! How may I serve you?"

"Your world is in danger, and by extension mine," Athena replied as she placed a hand on Diana's shoulder. "Beings who seek to destroy you and you're so called Justice League are here."

"But how?" questioned a confused Diana. "I've placed a protection spell on this place to keep intruders from hurting people and the artifacts!"

"Use your eyes and you will understand," Athena replied before fading away.

While Diana knew that the Gods would often give their messages in riddles, she was still understandably worried. Especially when it came to threats regarding both her friends and the Earth. But what troubled her more were the sounds of frantic running just outside the museum, as well as the nervous male voice on the intercom.

"Attention Museum Patrons," said the voice, trying to sound calm but obviously having little to no success. "We ask that you keep calm and stay inside the museum for your own safety."

Diana knew from the chaos that this must be the danger that Athena was implying. And so, after taking a moment to calm down, Diana concentrated and thus used the gift given to her by the Wisdom Goddess herself, 'The Sight of Athena', which caused her eyes to glow white as she allowed herself to sense the emotions of the people in her environment. Sure enough, she felt fear, terror, and bloodlust, all of which were coming from outside the museum. This in turn caused her to spin around, and after a flash of light, Diana had changed into her Wonder Woman guise, and thus opened the window and flew towards where she sensed such dark emotions.

Once outside, Diana found one of the two individuals containing 'bloodlust' and saw that most of the civilians had ran off the streets and retreated to inside the nearby buildings…which at least solved half of the problem. The other half was seeing that of a human/feline hybrid that was her lifelong enemy, Barbara Ann Minerva, otherwise known as the Cheetah. And it was here that Barbara had taken a little girl hostage, as he parents, with the father's right arm slashed, are helpless forced to stay where they were after being threatened by Barbara herself that if they moved forward, she would slit the girl's throat. "Ah, Amazon!" said a smiling Barbara, with her talons just inches away from the crying little girl's neck. "So glad you could finally come!"

"Barbara stop this!" Diana yelled as she took in the scene. "You're better than this!"

"Yes, I am!" Barbara replied, sounding angry as using these cowardly tactics were more painful to her pride as hunter than any punch she suffered from Diana herself. This was all part of the plan of her partner to help draw the Amazon out, and now that her sworn enemy was here, she continued with this strategy…though she didn't have to like it. "Believe me, there's nothing I would like more than to hunt you down and kill you just like all my prey! But due to your 'celebrity status', as well your mystic seal on your little museum, how else was I supposed to get your attention?" As the little girl continued to cry in her arms, Barbara allowed an evil smile to spread across her lips. "And seeing is how you're now here, I think it's safe to say that this little one has outlived her usefulness." With that said, Barbara threw the scared child up into the air, much to the fright of her parents nearby.

"No!" Diana leaped into the air and succeeded in catching the small child. But before she reached the ground she was hit by an attack from the back it wasn't the familiar claws of the Cheetah.

The cause of the Amazon's pain was that of Barbara's new partner, who also took of disguise and revealed herself to be Cat Eye, the bounty hunter dressed as a leopard and her eyes smoking from firing an optic blast into the back of Diana's head.

Despite still being dazed, Diana still tried to soldier on for the sake of the child that was now in her arms. As such, she looked over shoulder to see that Barbara was now behind her and holding her right arm up above her head, about to throw a slash attack. Acting fast, Diana performed a left legged back kick, nailing Barbara in the gut and sending her flying backward a few feet, sending the villainess flying backward in the air, but she later saved herself by flipping backward and landing on all fours.

Fortunately, though, Diana still managed to give the girl to her frantic parents. "Run! Now!" she exclaimed, and the couple wasted no time in taking their child and running off. Once the family was safe, Diana quickly spun and around and saw Barbara arrive and use her right hand to throw a claw slash, forcing the Amazon to hold her arms in front of her face and use her gauntlets to deflect her enemy's claws and save her eyes from getting slashed out. However, while Diana successfully defended herself against Barbara's attack, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her right knee, which caused her to scream and go down in a kneeling position.

Moments later, the source of Diana's newfound pain was revealed to be that of Cat Eye, with her eyes literally smoking after firing another optic blast. Once she saw the kneeling, as well as hurt Diana turn to her, Cat Eye immediately fired another optic blast, this time with the target being the Amazon's face.

Naturally, Diana used her gauntlets to block the blast and deflect it up into the sky, then through the corner of her left eye, spotted Barbara using her cat like speed and reflexes to throw a left-handed claw slash, with the intent of taking Diana's head clean off her shoulders and take it as her trophy. Acting fast, Diana ducked and rolled forward, saving herself from getting decapitated. Then, once she stopped and ended up in a kneeling position, Diana quickly stood up and spun around to face Barbara. However, this act only caused her further pain in right knee, but she ignored it as she saw her cat hybrid enemy throw another right claw slash and thus used the gauntlet on her right arm to block. "Stop this, Diana," she said in a tone that was stern, but also confused. "You're sick! Let me help you!"

"The only thing I'm sick of," hissed the frustrated Barbara. "Is listening to your mouth!" With that said, Barbara threw another claw slash with her left hand, which was also quickly blocked by Diana. This caused the cat hybrid's frustration to grow in to anger, thus causing her to throw a right legged front kick at Diana's abdomen to try and kick the wind out of her.

But thanks to her years of training, Diana's heightened awareness alerted her of this, and thus instinctively throw both of her arms downward in an 'X' motion, and not only did she block the kick, but she also pushed Barbara's foot downward.

However, seeing that Barbara was in trouble, Cat Eye decides to help her partner by firing another optic blast, aiming for Diana's head and thus allow Barbara to take advantage.

Suddenly, just as Cat Eye fired her blast, what appeared to be a black and white silhouette came rushing in at great speeds, then stopped the optic blast before it could reach Diana, who by this time was using both of her gauntlets as a shield to block another one of Barbara rage fueled claw slashes. Once stopping, the silhouette was revealed to be that of a brunette Caucasian woman with tanned skin, wearing a black and white body suit and holding her left hand with her palm smoking, indicating that she used it to stop the blast.

Diana looked over her shoulder to see this woman and was naturally surprised to see her. She remembered seeing news reports about this heroine and her good deeds, but always wondered when she would get to meet her face to face. And given the circumstances, now was as good as time as ever. "Amazing Woman!" said the stunned Diana. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I was in the neighborhood," Amazing Woman replied with a friendly smile, then spotted Cat Eye firing another blast, and thus used her right hand to block it. Afterwards, she began slowly walking towards the laser eyed assassin while pushing her blast towards her with one hand. "And once I saw you with these two, I figured you could use a hand!" Once she approached Cat Eye, Amazing Woman finally threw a left hook and nailed the killer in her jaw, sending Cat Eye into the pavement and into unconsciousness.

Diana couldn't help but be impressed with how Amazing Woman just handled the laser eyed assassin, but through the corner of her right eye, she noticed the roaring Barbara throwing another right claw slash and quickly used her right gauntlet to block it. "Can't say I disagree," Diana retorted, and once she saw Barbara going for a left overhead slash, she quickly made an 'X' with her arms and held them up, using her gauntlets to catch the claws. Moments later, the Amazon fought back by throwing a left knee strike into Babara's abdomen and knock the wind out of her, thus creating the opening needed for her to throw a right uppercut which connected to the infamous 'Cheetah's' chin and sender literally up a couple of fee in the air and landing hard on the pavement.

Though Diana's held back a large amount of strength with the punch, it was still strong enough to make Barbara feel light headed, and before long, the blood thirsty huntress's eyes crossed and she fell unconscious.

With the two villains now defeated, the nearby civilians cheered both heroines for their efforts, and the exhausted Diana sees Amazing Woman walking towards her and gives her both a smile and nod. "Thanks for your help."

"Hey, don't mention it," Amazing Woman replied with a welcoming, cheerful demeanor. "I, along with my teammates, are always eager to lend a hand to fellow heroes who deal with psychos."

Naturally, Diana appeared to be both confused, yet interested when she heard Amazing Woman say this certain word. "Teammates?"

Amazing Woman saw that she now had Diana's attention, and after letting out a somewhat nervous sigh, as she still was unsure if the Amazon would react, she nevertheless answered her. "Yeah, I'm now part of a government sanction team of superheroes…and we'd like you to come aboard."


	4. CHAPTER 4: SAM LANE AND LEX LUTHOR

**CHAPTER 4: SAM LANE AND LEX LUTHOR**

Today was not General Sam Lane's best day as he sat in his office looking over files on his computer screen. While some would say that Superman defeating Mammoth was a good thing, it was a reminder that Aliens were living on Earth. Aliens, oh how Sam hated them. All through out his life, Sam thought that they were fascinating, but then came the Invasion. Twelve years ago, alien beings came from the stars seeking to destroy the planet. All because they were scared of Earth's growing metahuman powers. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of superheroes and various governments of the world, the planet was saved. While everyone else was breathing a sigh of relief, Sam and a lot of his fellow soldiers took this as a wake-up call. Aliens weren't just friendly beings like Superman and Martian Manhunter. In fact, most of them were more powerful than people of Earth. It was time for a real arms race and metahumans were the key. Together with the help of some influential people, he started getting his plan into action. But then he had to go and die. He died saving his daughter Lois from another Alien invasion, and if not for Lex Luthor, he would still be six feet under. With Luthor's money and scientific genius, his plan to create a breed of genetically enhanced humans would finally be complete.

Suddenly, the buzzer on Sam's office phone went off, no doubt a message from his secretary which caused him to grumble irritably as he didn't want to be bother right now. However, he also knew that it must be something important, and thus pressed a button to answer her. "Yes?"

" _General,"_ said the secretary, sounding like a woman in her mid-twenties. _"Mr. Luthor is on the mainline for you."_

After letting out an aggravated sigh, Sam nevertheless picked up the phone, and pressed the mainline button to speak with Luthor. "What do you want, Lex?"

" _Nice to hear from you too, Sam,"_ Lex replied on the other line in a jovial yet sarcastic tone.

Hearing, Lex's voice made Sam's skin crawl. For all of Lex's money and power, he lacked any real sense of humanity. When he was still operating as a public figure, he showed his true colors when Sam's wife Ella was poisoned from working at one of LexCorp's subsidies. Instead of simply curing his wife, Lex set up a payment plan that would have made getting he cure a slow painful process. If it wasn't for his daughter Lois and her husband's contacts at Wayne Enterprises, his wife could have been dead. Ever since, Sam had been planning on returning the favor.

" _I just wanted to let you know that we have three new metahumans that look promising for our team,"_ Lex reported, but his tone seemed to change from that of a more stern one as he continued. _"I've also heard that you've captured Mammoth, and along the way, you spoke with a certain 'Alien' that wears a red cape."_

Sam knew that Lex would hear about Mammoth's capture, as well as Clark's involvement. Once more, he knew that Lex would not be the least bit happy about it. Still, he nevertheless answered his 'partner'. "Yes, but to his credit, he was cooperative and allowed us to take Mammoth into custody," Sam replied truthfully, leaving out a few details on how Clark did most of the work in beating the brutish villain senseless before he and his team got there. Not to mention the fact that the Alien that Lex hated so much was his own son-in-law! He knew Clark's secret identity for a while now but decided to best keep it in his back pocket just in case he needed it. As such, Sam reluctantly kept the conversation by looking at one particular file and asking Lex this. "So, did you hear about Pierson's encounter with Batman?"

" _I did,"_ Lex replied. _"But it's no major loss, Pierson had outlived his usefulness anyway. His notes and research should be more than enough."_

"Good," Sam responded nonchalantly as he looked over his flies on his computer. Along the way, he came across one which was a report of Amazing Woman's assisting Diana against Cat Eye and Cheetah. "Also, it should interest you to know that Amazing Woman succeeded in bringing in Cat Eye and Barbara 'Cheetah' Minerva. But as far as offering Wonder Woman membership, she said no."

" _No surprise there,"_ Lex replied. _"But_ _it's not like we need her help anyway. Besides, she can't say we didn't offer her a chance to be part of the winning team once we have our team's unveiling to the public."_

Hearing this only annoyed Sam further. For the purpose of this team was to protect both the country and the world, not be celebrities. "Just so we can show the American people that were a team they can trust, Luthor, not so we bring more news and coverage to feed your ego."

" _Oh please, Sam, have a little faith,"_ Lex retorted. _"Like you, I just want what's best for the team. And showing them off to the American people in a positive way is a good start for earning their trust."_

Just make sure you keep that in mind," With that said, Sam hung up the phone and turned back to his computer to look at files. However, he soon caught a glimpse of a picture of himself when he was young, roughly in his early thirties, and posing with Lois when she was six years old. He soon let out a somewhat depressed sigh, as he knew that his allegiance with Luthor would probably strain his relationship with Lois even more. "But, you get yours Luthor," he said to himself angrily. "I promise you that!"

Meanwhile, inside his large, lecherous office in LexCorp, the bald headed, middle aged, tailor suited Lex Luthor himself hanged up the phone and went back to looking at a picture of his team's symbol drawn by people in his art department, which was that of a stylized 'A'. All which gave Lex a very pleased smile. "You're time to shine is near…my Argonauts!"


	5. CHAPTER 5: JUSTICE LEAGUE

**CHAPTER 5: JUSTICE LEAGUE**

Inside the meeting room of the Justice League Watchtower, the large station which orbited around the Earth, the issue with the sighting of these 'new heroes' was about to be discussed. All the Justice League members sat around a large round table with the large 'JL' symbol in the center, and with the chairs containing the individual symbols of each hero, as if to show they were reserved for certain members. The 'Trinity' that was Clark, Bruce and Diana were present, as well as the rest of the heroes that made the League. And they were:

J'OHN J'ONZZ, THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER: A tall, bald, green skinned, red eyed male humanoid dressed in a black jumpsuit with and blue cape.

VICTOR STONE a.k.a. CYBORG: A black man appearing to be in his mid-twenties, with the ride side of his face, as well as his arms legs and torso, being composed of silver steel.

ARTHUR CURRY a.k.a. AQUAMAN: The King of Atlantis, who was a blonde-haired, white man in his mid-thirties with a matching beard, clad in an orange, scale upper body armor, as well as wearing green gloves and armored pants with pointed fins behind his calves.

MARI JIWE MCCABE a.k.a, VIXEN: A stunningly beautiful, short haired black woman in her early thirties, wearing an orange jumpsuit with claws and wearing a necklace that housed the Tantu Totem, a medallion that was the source of her powers.

JOHN STEWART a.k.a. GREEN LANTERN: A bald headed, thirty-five-year old black male with an athletic physique, wearing a black jumpsuit, with green wrist gauntlets, boots, and armor on his shoulders and neck, all while having the Green Lantern emblem on his chest and wearing a glowing green ring on his right finger.

DINAH LANCE a.k.a. BLACK CANARY: A gorgeous white, blonde haired woman in a black jacket, gloves, heeled boots and fishnet stockings.

And finally, BARRY ALLEN a.k.a. THE FLASH: A masked, thin white male dressed in a red body suit with yellow boots, lightning shaped belt, two winged 'ears' on both sides of the mask and a lighting bolt symbol on his chest.

With all members of the League all accounted for, it is the curious Barry himself who asked the question that he and the rest of his teammates are thinking. "Okay, so, now that the gang's all here, what's the skinny? Invaders from Apocolips? A weapon or weapons concocted by Luthor?"

Clark let out an irritable sigh at first, always hating any conversation relating to Lex Luthor. Afterwards, he finally addressed Barry with a somewhat disheartened look. "Well, I guess you can say it's the latter, Barry."

Not long after, Bruce is the next to keep things rolling, but not before he turns to Vic. "Cyborg."

"On it!" Vic replied quickly, the held up his right arm as he if were looking at a wrist watch and pressed a button on his gauntlet. This in turn cause a large holographic screen to appear on the center of the table, one win which showed Lex Luthor and General Sam Lane standing side by side and right in front of the team of metahumans called the Acolytes. Amazing Woman and Major Force were present on the picture, but also in the picture were their teammates that made up the entire group. And they were:

JACOB COLBY a.k.a. SKYMAN: A tall, muscular white man with brunette hair and looked to be in his mid-thirties. He had a muscular built like Clark's and was shown through his body suit, which had the shoulders and chest area be blue and white with a large start in the center, but his arms and legs clad in black leather and a long red cape.

JOHNATHAN GRANT a.k.a. GLADIATOR GIANT: A large, red skinned humanoid male that appeared to be over seven feet tall and five hundred pounds of pure muscle, looking strong enough to pick up a tank with his bare hands. He was clothed in golden armor, looking like that of his ancient warrior namesake.

HANNIBAL BATES a.k.a. EVERYMAN: Shown to be a bald male with brown skin and yellow, animal like eyes, pointed ears and teeth looking almost demonic. He wore a green and purple bodysuit but no gloves and boots, all to make room for the three-inch talons in his fingers and long to nails on his feet.

LUCIA a.k.a. EMPATHY: A mid-twenties white woman with red hair, wearing neon blue goggles, as well as a black and white armored body suit.

JAROME MCKENNA a.k.a. REACTION: A tanned skinned, late twenties man with red hair, wearing a red and yellow jumpsuit with an atom symbol on his chest, as well having eye goggles with yellow lenses.

And finally, NATASHA IRONS a.k.a. STEEL III: A young black woman in her early twenties, with her hair in a long braided pointy tail and wearing silver steel body armor with a 'S' symbol on her chest.

With the Argonauts now in full view, Bruce continued. "Robin and I were able to obtain these files from Gen Tech. The company has been under control of Luthor for years." Batman pushed another button that showed Amazo. "They also had that in their control and forced us to fight for it. We barely made it out alive."

While Diana was glad to hear that Bruce and Tim made it out of their encounter with Amazo alive, she still felt compelled to tell this piece of information to the League. "And they are also trying to recruit new members. I know this because one of their members tried to recruit me."

Naturally, this news came as a shock to the rest of the League, allowing a stunned Berry to state the obvious. "Well, that's bold."

This also caused the ever-serious John to cross his arms and shake his head in disgust. "Not a move that's military protocol," said John, then looked at the picture with a narrow brow, more specifically, the one that showed a smiling Lex. "This whole thing definitely has Luthor's fingerprints all over it."

Clark nodded at the veteran Green Lantern's words, all while having a scowl on his face. "All which further proved that we need to investigate this."

However, this caused Dinah to voice her opinion, all while looking worried. "Yes, but to what end? Even if we know he's behind this, we have no idea where Luthor is. Last I checked, this guy has gone off the grid and his sister's running the company."

This caused Miri to raise a skeptic eyebrow. "Please, Lena Luthor isn't running anything."

"That's not necessarily true, Mari," Dinah replied. "She may not be evil like her brother, but she does have his intelligence. She has made strides to improve her company's name." As she continued, Dinah briefly turned her attention to Bruce. "Matter of fact, I think she's partnered up with Wayne Tech on some project?"

The still stone-faced Bruce responded by giving Dinah a nod.

However, Mari was still not convinced of Lena's innocence. "Well, that's all well and good, but that still doesn't prove anything."

"Agreed," Bruce chimed in with a calm, almost unfeeling tone, which was always unsettling, even to his own teammates. "Which is why 'Bruce Wayne, her new business partner,' is going to have a nice little chat with her about this subject."

While Dinah understood this point of action, she still seemed a bit worried. "Fine, but there's still one other thing," she said as she then turned to Clark in concern. "You said yourself that your father-in-law was one of the people in charge of the Argonauts, Clark. Won't this…you know, cause complications between you and Lois?"

"In a word, yes," Clark responded, then got up from his chair and walked over to the nearby window to look at the planet beneath, looking discouraged.

As Diana gazed worriedly at Clark, she also noticed that J'ohn was sitting there looking at the table and was somewhat confused. "J'ohn, you're awfully quiet. Something on your mind?"

"I am thinking that perhaps we are jumping to conclusions when it comes to these new metahumans being perceived as threats," said the Martian, causing everyone to look at him completely dumbfounded. "Do no misunderstand me, Lex Luthor's involvement is a great cause for concern. But Diana, you yourself admitted that one of them helped you stop Cheetah and Cat Eye?"

It was here that John Stewart's turned his glowing green eyes to the Martian, all while having a skeptic expression. "What are you saying that Luthor might be mind controlling them or something?"

"Or perhaps lie and manipulate them to suit his own agenda." J'ohn told the Green Lantern. "Luthor has been known to do such things to unsuspecting people, be it metahuman or otherwise."

Out of all the Leaguers, Diana was the one who seemed to be on the same page with J'ohn regarding the heroes possibly being tried into helping Luthor, especially with Amazing Woman, who she sense was genially trying to help as oppose to just playing hero to serve someone's agenda. "I agree," said the Amazon, then turned to Bruce, giving him a serious look. "So, Bruce, make sure that the heroes really are in league with Luthor before you proceed with your 'guilty until proven innocent' approach."

"Right," Bruce acknowledged, sounding irritable as he always heard this warning from Diana a few times a week when investigating potential villains.

As for Arthur, he too was quiet for a few moments, feeling that while this new team was a problem for the surface world, his primary concern was that of his kingdom under the sea, Atlantis. Nevertheless, years of being part of the League have taught him that problems that they faced would usually become a worldwide threat, including for the people he ruled under the seas. As such, he let out a cough to get his teammates attention. "Well, just make sure it's dealt with quickly, so it does not become a problem for Atlantis.

"That's something we can all agree on," Cyborg added as he finished analyzing the files that Bruce was able to obtain from Gen Tech, and thus pressed the button on his right gauntlet to turn the image off.

Clark finally turned away from the window and walked back to the table. "Then it's settled," he said in a determined tone, getting his teammates attention. As he stopped by his seat, he turned to the Dark Knight that was right next to him. "Bruce will find out what he can from Lena Luthor, but we'll play this close to the vest. If Lex really is involved, we can't afford to let him know that we're on to him." Moments later, Clark looked down on the table, his grim expression masking his conflicted feelings. As he knew that the other men involved with the Argonauts was the father of the woman he loved, as well as the grandfather of his unborn child. _"And I just hope and pray, that things don't escalate that will destroy the new family that I'm about to have."_


	6. CHAPTER 6: THE ARGONAUTS

CHAPTER_6: THE ARGONAUTS

It was a circus outside the front of the LexCorp headquarters building in Metropolis. Thousands of reporters and photographers have gathered to see the unveiling of the government sanctioned metahuman team known as the Argonauts. For most, it was like any other day. Superheroes had become a mainstay in the public's eye in recent years. Ever since Superman first appeared, more and more heroes have made their way into public consciousness.

But for Lex Luthor, who was still in hiding and watching the whole event from his smartphone in his darkened secret hiding place, he didn't care. With his tenacity and sheer force of will, he became the wealthiest man in America. Even though he went underground, his company still owned most of Metropolis. So, whether his family knew it or not, he was still in control. As he continued to watch the event, Lex couldn't help but laugh. Everything has gone to plan, without a single hitch. Soon his people will begin the media blitz, first social media, then the idiot talking heads, not matter the politics.

Back in the press conference, there actually was another hero besides the Argonauts amongst the reporters. It was Clark, who this time was wearing black eye glasses and a business suit, as part of his 'mild mannered reporter' disguise. Also there Clark's wife and co-worker, Lois Lane, and their red headed, freckled faced eighteen-year-old male photographer, Jimmy Olsen. All three of them represented the Daily Planet, and as Jimmy snapped pictures, Lois and Clark were there to see if there was more to this team than they were letting on. And more importantly, if they were puppets whose strings were being pulled by the still missing Lex Luthor.

The Argonauts themselves stood center stage and allowed pictures to snap at them, and while some of them 'posed for the cameras,' and practically already enjoying the fame, others merely stood up in attention and appeared to be almost stiff, for they took this moment seriously. But out of all the members, perhaps none were more serious than the ever-disciplined soldier, General Sam Lane, who stood up straight and with poise as he always did in representing the army that protected his country. However, such reserve is almost disrupted when he looked out into the crowd and saw Lois Lane among the gathered reporters, all which caused him to sigh silently. _"Terrific,"_ Sam thought to himself while grumbling in aggravation. While he knew that his daughter was dedicated to her job, and was proud of her for it, he wished that just for today, she should've just taken the day off.

Meanwhile, back up in the top floor of the LexCorp building, the blonde haired, twenty-year-old white female named Lena Luthor is watching the press conference from the wall sized window in her large, luxurious office, eager to see how this was all going to play out.

Back in his safehouse, Lex himself was watching the press conference on a small TV and figured that it was time to start the show for the reporters, and thus he pulled out a metal headset and place it over his head. This device, which was of Let's own design, controlled a life-like android remotely…

…And such android was there in the press conference, in the form of a white, twenty-year-old man with red hair and in a black business suit named Julian Luthor, Lex Luthor's 'son', who along with his sister ran LexCorp in his stead. Moments later, Julian soon walked up to the podium to address the reporters, all with photographers snapping pictures and causing lights to flash among the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming," said Julian in a professional but pleasant tone. "For you see, today is the day we finally unveil a team of superpowered heroes that both protects the world and proudly represents the United States in a more positive light. I give you the hero team of the new age…the Argonauts!" Upon saying that, the reporters began standing up and raise their hands and called out Julien's name loudly. As such, this caused Julien himself to calmly raise his hands to try and settle everyone down. "Please, please, I will answer what questions I can." Moments later, he spotted Lois' hand up first, and thus pointed to her. "And we'll start with you, Ms. Lane."

Lois waited for the other reporters to stop talking before she could ask her question, all while appearing to be very skeptical. "Well, I guess I'll be the first to ask what everyone is thinking, Mr. Luthor," said Lois in a professional, but still cynical tone. "Why does the government need such a team? Don't we already have the Justice League?"

"Thank you, Ms. Lane," Julian said with a small laugh as he leaned against the podium. "While the League works on a global scale, there have been unfortunate instances where they can't be everywhere at once. This team will be more professional and accountable. Unlike the League, which is only responsible to the UN, this team will function as private government-contractors and their members will be certified under the laws of the host state."

While some of the reporters felt that this response was reasonable, Lois was not so easily convinced. And neither was Clark, who was the next to raise his hand, to which Julian acknowledged. "Now when you say 'accountable,' Mr. Luthor, what exactly do you mean by that?" Clark inquired. "After all, the League has always served the United States just as loyally as it does the UN. Not to mention working just as hard to keep the citizens of all countries safe."

Before replying, Julian smiled, also expecting this question as he knew that Clark Kent and Lois Lane were two of Superman's 'biggest fans'. "This is true," he admitted, though his confidence is still present. "And while the Leagues results in saving lives is unquestionable, their methods still seemed to be a little 'shaky' to say the least. Examples being adding younger and often reckless members to their ranks, as well as vigilantes that have a less than promising reputation with the law, Gotham City's 'Batman' chief among them. And more importantly, the decision to keep their identities secret from the public doesn't exactly build trust. And trust is the keyword when it comes to the Argonauts being the team that the country, and world, can depend on. And here to elaborate on that subject is the team's government liaison, General Same Lane." With that said, Julien soon turned his attention to the stone-faced Sam and took a step back from the podium. "General."

"Thank you, Mr. Luthor," Sam said to Julien as he stepped to the podium, then looked at the reporters in the crowd. "Now, in regards of having our heroes be trusted, government sanctioned teams, the Argonauts being no exception, will be required to have their secret identities revealed to the public." Naturally, this response caused reporters to talk over one another once more and bombarded the General with many questions, all while leaving both Lois and Clark in completed shock. After a few seconds, Sam raised his hands slightly to get the excited reporters' attentions. "Please, please everyone, let me finish." Once the reporters chattering stopped, Sam continued. "Now, we have often heard from numerous people that super heroes keep their identities secret to protect those that they care for, but we feel that being part of the government will help heroes protect their family properly, all the while not hiding anything from the people they swore to protect. However, it should also be noted that we are not unreasonable, which is why we're giving the Justice League one week to debate this. Afterwards, we ask that Superman, the League's most prominent member, to meet with Mr. Luthor and myself at the United Nations building so we can discuss the matter further, and hopefully, come up with a compromise that will have them be part of the solution, not the problem."

For Lois, she was not at fooled by her father's 'peaceful guy' performance he giving to the crowd. After all, no body knew better than hurt that pretending to be understanding was something that her father was never good at. And more importantly, she grew more displeased and angry at her father because he was now being part of something that could put her, Clark and their unborn child at risk.

As for Clark, he was just as secretly livid as his wife on how his father-in-law was taking this course of action. He tried his best to keep his anger hidden, for the sake of not only keeping his mild-mannered persona, but also maintaining a cool-head, for he knew that despite his gruff exterior, Sam was acting to keep his country and daughter safe.

"I can't believe my father is in bed with a Luthor," Lois whispered under her breath.

"He's only doing what he believes is right for the country, Lois," Clark whispered back, earning him a somewhat shocked looked from his wife, to which he continued by holding up his right arm up in defense. "But I agree, it doesn't make it any less wrong. Somebody needs to let him know this."

This answer caused Lois's expression to change to that of concern, but still hopeful. "So, Superman IS going to meet with him at the UN?"

Before answering, Clark chuckled bitterly at himself. "Well, he really did put 'Superman' on the spot." Afterward, he once again looked at Lois "But yes, he will talk to Sam and try to reason with him. For the sake of the heroes, their families…" As he continued, Clark gently placed his right hand over Lois's stomach, and in turn, over their child. "...and ours!" As the reporters still tried to get their questions answered, Clark looked up at the top of the LexCorp building, where he has no doubt that one person in particular must be up at the top floor by now. A person who despite having now powers, has still managed to do the impossible, possibly more so than he ever could as Superman. _"Bruce,"_ he thought. _"For once, I hope you have a better idea of defusing this than I do."_


	7. CHAPTER 7: LENA LUTHOR AND BRUCE WAYNE

**CHAPTER 7: LENA LUTHOR AND BRUCE WAYNE**

From her office in LexCorp, Lena continued to watch down at the press conference and more importantly, watching her 'brother' and Sam Lane were handling the crowd. She was never happy with her father's near constant plans to destroy Superman. But for the moment she was forced to play along with this idea. Lena preferred to use her family's company to benefit humanity instead of trying to control the world. Checking her watch, she noticed that the man she was scheduled to meet was ten minutes late. Not unsurprisingly, knowing his lifestyle.

Suddenly, Lena's attention is diverted from the press conference to the buzzing sound coming from her desk phone. As such, she walked over and pressed a button which placed it on speaker. "Yes?"

On the other end, the voice of a young woman in her twenties replied. "Ms. Luthor, Mr. Wayne is here for your appointment."

"Show him in," Lena replied and with a sigh, walked over to the front of her desk to meet the man that she was expecting. In most cases, she preferred to remain seated, it helped to know who was in power. But for someone like Bruce Wayne, she wanted to approach him as an equal.

Sure enough, the office's double doors opened, an in came Bruce, this time dressed in a black tailored business suit and with a winning smile. "Lena," said Bruce, in a light and confident tone to help his billionaire playboy act. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

"Hey, I'm always glad to see a fellow businessman and friend," Lena replied with a smile of her own as she approached Bruce and offered her hand to him, to which he took and shook firmly. "So, what brings you here?"

As Bruce pulled his hand away, his smile disappeared and is instead replaced with a more worried expression. "Well, I'm here to talk to you about this new team that you're backing. These 'Argonauts."

Lena sighed and looked away for a moment, hoping that Bruce would notice how tired she looked. She knew that he was smarter than he let on. "Trust me, this wasn't my idea."

Bruce could sense how reluctant she was, but for the sake of his fellow Justice Leaguers, he still needed to press on. "And yet, you still couldn't notify me of this? After all, that is part of the deal of our business merger, isn't it? Especially since I'm aware of the real story concerning your 'brother'…"

"Then you should know how Lex is," Lena snapped back, then took a moment to recollect herself and looked down at the floor. "I've always have to walk such a tightrope when he's off with his schemes, which he's now doing more freely since coming up with the whole 'Julien' front." Lena trailed off as she briefly looked out the window and into the distance, where a familiar blue and red streak had caught her eye. "Besides, it's not like you and Kord haven't been donating to the League for years. Using your subsidiaries."

Bruce let out a discouraged sigh before answering. "True, but Ted and I have always respected their secret identities. I'm not saying that they're above the law, but they have enemies who will do whatever they have to do to get to them, even if it means attacking their loved ones. Bottom line, they keep their real names a secret to protect those they care about, not just themselves, and thus this new law that Lane and Lex have cooked up will be putting them in jeopardy."

"Well, not to split hairs, Bruce, but General Lane has helped you and the League in the past, hasn't he?" Lena retorted as she continued to look out the window, then turned and faced the billionaire. "So, don't you think that you and the League owe him the benefit of the doubt? Or better yet, maybe you can ask for his help in coming up with a fair compromise?"

This answer caused the skeptic Bruce to shake his head. "I'm not so sure about that."

Lena let out a frustrated sigh, but nevertheless maintained her professional, but gentle demeanor. "Bruce, please trust me when I say that this law is the best chance at helping the public see the League as the true heroes that they are and can truly trust." As she continued, Lena gave Bruce a small smile. "Besides Bruce, just because we disagree on this doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"True," Bruce replied honestly, but kept a serious expression. "But the Justice League are my friends too, Lena. And as such, I can't support anything that will endanger them and the people they care about."

"Believe me, I understand what you mean all too well," Lena replied as she briefly glanced at a picture frame on her desk, then looked back at Bruce with a determined expression. "But trust me when I say that the League's safety is my primary concern, as well as General Lane's. Which is why I can tell him that there must be a compromise when it comes to their identities. And if anybody knows that I can convince anyone of anything, it's you. All I ask for you to convince the League, Superman, in particular, to come meet with him at the UN."

Bruce briefly turned away and walked over to one of the guest chairs and placed both of his hands on the back as if to appear to be conflicted, when in reality, he was placing a small, bat shaped recorder in the back to listen in one whatever conversation Lena was having in this office. Even so, he did feel somewhat uneasy about resorting to this, as he did sense the sincerity of Lena's words. But nevertheless, he still knew he had to act on the League's behalf, and after placing the bug in the chair, he let out a small laugh. "Well, I can't say that you've never performed miracles since taking this job," Bruce said lightheartedly, then looked at Lena to tell her his reluctant decision. "All right, I will talk with Superman and tell him about this compromise while you do the same with Lane…on one condition. That as your partner, I'd like for you to keep me informed about these Argonauts of yours."

Lena gave Bruce a returning smile, grateful that he seemed to be willing to give this idea a chance. "Deal," she said to him. "And I promise, there's nothing about this you won't know."

"That's good to hear," Bruce replied, humoring her for he already knew what was going to go on in this office thanks to the recording device he previously planted. "And sadly, I'm afraid I have to leave. My board of directors at Wayne Tech are waiting for me."

Upon hearing this, Lena rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You really need to learn to delegate."

"That's what my butler keeps telling me," Bruce replied with a small laugh. "But, I'm working on it. Still up for lunch Wednesday?"

"Sure," Lena answered with a shrug, then briefly looked at her desk picture frame again, which had the picture on her with a smiling six-year-old girl with blonde hair at the Gotham science fair. It was her daughter Lori, who by now was fourteen and showing all the signs of a girl her age. "Mind if I bring my daughter along? She always wanted to meet you."

"Not at all," Bruce said reassuringly. "In fact, if all the years of having wards has taught me anything, it's that kids always know to brighten things up."

Though she found this line corny, Lena couldn't argue with that in regards to her child. As such, she gave Bruce a coy smile "Just be sure to show up on time for this one, Mr. Wayne. Because when it comes to tardiness, I'm not as forgiving as your board of directors are."

"Dually noted," replied the chuckling Bruce. "See you then, Lena," With a friendly wave, Bruce turned and walked out of the office.

Once Bruce was gone, Lena relaxed and leaned back in her chair. It was hard dealing with people like Wayne, but she had gotten used to it. Reminding herself that she wasn't doing it for her insane 'brother', but for her daughter. As she reminded herself as she reached over, picked up the picture frame and gently touched the place where he little girl was.

As for Bruce himself, he makes his way through the hallway and towards the elevator, he briefly looked at his wrist watch to see that the bug he planted was recording. _"Wish I could say that I could trust you, Lena,"_ he thought. _"But your last name and the person you're relate to isn't exactly a good incentive. Now I just need to inform the League, and hope that Kent doesn't do anything rash."_


	8. CHAPTER 8: VIXEN

**CHAPTER 8: VIXEN**

Anticipation filled the set of the Angela Chen show, with the crowd eagerly waiting for both the host and special guest to appear. Finally, the crowd started applauding loudly as they hostess Angela Chen, a beautiful Asian woman with short black hair and wearing designer clothing, showed up on stage. She had to admit, since taking this job after years at working as a gossip columnist for the Daily Planet, Angela enjoyed the perks that came from being a TV show host. Most notably, being adored by a cheering audience. As such, Angela continued her 'routine' by placing her hands on her lips and blowing a kiss to the crowd. "Welcome to the show, everyone!" said the smiling Angela with enthusiasm in her voice. "Are you all ready to see today's host?!"

This question caused the crowd to let out another loud roar, one that almost shook not just the room, but the building itself.

Afterwards, Angela waited a good two minutes to let the audience calm down before continuing. "All right, I am too! So let's go ahead and bring out the heroine who fights crime but looks good while doing it, the Vixen herself, Mari McCabe!"

Upon hearing her que, Mari soon walked on stage, wearing a black light jacket over a fashionable gold top underneath, black jeans and matching black high heeled boots. And, as always, she wore the Tantu Totem around her neck. As the crowd applauded, much louder than the reception they gave Angela, the smiling Mari gave them a wave, appreciative of such great admiration from the people she both entertained and protected.

As a former reporter for the Daily Planet, Angela was more than used to dealing with celebrities. When she interviewed the League after Lex Luthor threaten to destroy the Metropolis she became famous. Quickly landing her very own talk show. So talking to a supermodel who moonlighted as a superhero would be a piece of cake. With that mindset, Angela waited for Mari to turn and face her, then shook her hand and lightly hugged her. Afterwards, she led her to two, large vanilla color chairs, where she took the one on the right, while Mari took the one on the left. "Well then," said Angela, sounding pleasant. "I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but you are looking good!"

"Thanks, comes with the day job," Mari replied humorously.

"Apparently," Angela replied with a small laugh. "Speaking of jobs, I understand you just finished up a fashion show in England?"

Mari gave the talk-show host a nod before answering. "Yeah, always a treat when I go down there. Of course, it almost got ruined when some fool tried to caused trouble near Buckingham Palace."

It was here that Angela actually put up an index finger to bring up a major point. "Funny that," she told Mari. "We actually have a photo of the Brittan newspaper of you helping out the local police in taking care of said fool. Let's have a quick look." Angela then pointed to the screen behind, causing the audience, and the confused but intrigued Mari to turn and look.

It was that of Mari, in her Vixen attire, taking a picture with a squad of British officers at Buckingham palace as they were bringing in a man dressed in black, who was attempting to assassinate the Queen. An image which caused Angela, and her studio audience to applaud with admiration.

Taking in the glowing endorsement from the audience, Mari smiled and waved to her fans. It was something she had gotten used to since her teens, to the point of becoming second nature.

Once the applause stopped, Angela turned her attention back to Mari. "Between fighting crime and fashion shows, to say that you're busy would be a gross understatement."

"Girl, you have no idea." Mari replied in an exhausted tone.

And it was here that, despite feeling a little uneasy regarding how the heroine would react, Angela decided to ask the question regarding that was currently the hottest news going around. "But since we're on the subject, have you heard of the team called the Argonauts?"

"Yeah, those kids are all over social media," Mari said nonchalantly.

"That they are," Angela said in agreement, but also with a serious tone. "And they also have been bringing this new law with superheroes revealing their identities, and the Justice League being on board. Can you give us your feelings on that?"

"Well, my fellow League members are still in talks, so I do not feel…" Mari trailed off as she saw three figures at the back of the audience that definitely did not look like the normal on lookers.

They were wearing street clothes, but kept their faces hidden by looking down and tilted the peeks of their caps downward, as well as not appearing to be as enthusiastic as the rest of the audience. One of the three men, who was wearing white shades, secretly held up his right index finger, then charged it with white electricity and fired a bolt straight towards Mari herself!

Upon seeing this with wide open eyes, Mari quickly pounced out of her chair with cheetah-like speed, dodging the blast and causing it to hit the big screen behind her instead, with sparks flying everywhere. This in turn caused Mari to tackle Angela to the floor, and with concentration, she made her skin than that of a Rhino's hide and shielded Angela from the sparks.

However, this sent the studio audience into a panic, thus causing them to scream and ran out in horror.

After getting helped up to her feet by Mari, Angela raised her hands to try and get the scared audience's attention. "Everybody stay calm," she yelled, then noticed the security guards coming out to guide them to the doors. "Just follow the guards out!"

Mari couldn't help but be impressed by Angela's reserve, given how many times she's seen the reporter be in danger thanks to supervillains. Speaking of which, she noticed the three mysterious men step forward, and with a determined look, she stood ready to fight, with her hands like claws.

Moments later, the three men removed their street clothing and revealed themselves to be three color coordinated villains known as Triple Threat:

WHITE: A man with bleach white hair, shades and wearing a pure white jumpsuit, and his hand still smoking after firing his blast.

BLACK: A large, bulky African American man with a black jumpsuit, who was seeing popping his knuckles.

And RED: A man with red hair and matching red jumpsuit, with a cocky smile and eager to take down Mari and make him and his friends famous by taking down Mari. As he proves by stepping forward in view of cameras that were still rolling. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are Triple Threat and we are here to show you that we are the next big-time villains!" Moments later, he looked at Mari and pointed his right index finger at her. "And we'll prove it by skinning this cat!"

It was there that Black looked completely confused upon hearing Red's line, and thus turned to him dumbfounded. "Wait, isn't that the line you should say to Catwoman?"

Naturally, this caused Red to roll his eyes in annoyance and addressed Black. "Dude, we're on TV and about to make our names by killing a superhero! Would you PLEASE stay-!"

Suddenly, while Red and his friends were distracted, Mari used this opportunity to harness the speed of the Cheetah to quickly run in and give Red a hard left uppercut to his jaw, sending him crashing into an empty seat in the front row. Moments later, Mari turned and dealt with the other two by pulling her left fist back and threw a straight punch into Black's right cheek, then delivered a swift right legged side kick into White's jaw, knocking him to the floor. With style and grace, Mari stopped spinning and looked around at the three fallen heroes, not even feeling the least bit impressed. "Well, you boys have ambition, I'll give you that," she told them. "But I'm a stepping stone for absolutely no one, much less three losers like you who make guys like Killer Moth look professional."

After shaking his head to regain his senses, Black heard Mari's words, and angrily grabbed her leg. "That's what you think, lady!" Using his massive strength, Black threw Mari like a rag doll and sent her flying and slamming back first into a nearby wall.

Though dazed at first, Mari still shook her head and snapped back to reality just in time to see Black was now standing right in front of her, then pull his right fist back and throw a straight punch, intending to punch her head through the wall itself.

It was here that Mari moved her head to the left side and caused Black to punch his fist through the wall instead, then concentrated and channeled the strength of the Rhino into her legs. As such, she ended up kick Black in the gut and sent him flying across the room and crashing through another wall.

The caught the attention of Red, who was starting to stir and was not too happy with how Mari just handled not just him, but his teammates. "Oh, you are so dead!" Red said angrily, then got up from his chair and levitated up into the air, with the plan to hurl himself at Mari like a torpedo and ram her through the floor. However, before he could make a move, Red suddenly felt light headed and saw the entire room get blurry. "I don't feel so good," His words slurred as he fell to the floor.

Naturally, this left both the recovering Black and White completely confused as to what just happened, as well as Mari herself. But before they themselves could reaction, Black and White also began to feel lightheaded, and just like Red before them, fell face first into the floor and slipped into unconsciousness.

This left Mari completely flabbergasted as she looked around to see who, or what, just took out her three would be assassins. "Okay, what the hell just happened?"

"I happened," called out a female voice that came from the entrance, and when Mari turned to that direction, she saw that the voice belonged to that of the Argonaut named Empathy.

And the appearance of this new heroine left Mari even more confused. "Thanks, but…how long have you been there?"

"We just arrived, my team is outside managing the exits. Skyman hoped you could take these newbs down on your own. But I figured you needed a helping hand." Empathy said with a wink and she stuck out her hand.

Mari took a moment to look around her now unconscious attackers and shrugged. "Well, I can't say that your wrong," she told her as she took her hand and shook it.

It was here that Empathy's mood changed from chipper to a more concerned one. "But that also brings me to pointing this out. We in the Argonauts often have teammates with us if were ever on civilian related activities such as this. A tactic which could help you and the League if you wish to sign up."

This response made Mari feel slightly uneasy and hesitant to answer. "Well…we're still debating that. But we'll keep that in mind."

"Fair enough, Empathy replied, then turned around to leave, but not before looking over her shoulder and giving Mari a small yet soft smile. "See you around."

Once Mari was gone and the crisis was averted, Mari clicked her Justice League com-link in her right ear. "Justice League, do you read me?"

"We can here you," J'ohn 'Jonzz the Martian Manhunter relayed through Mari's earpiece. "We saw the whole thing."

Before she answered, Mari let out a sigh of annoyance. "Good to know that you were watching me get my butt kicked."

"Apologies, but before I could take telepathic control of your attackers, Empathy beat me to it," J'ohn explained, and sensed Mari's aggravation, decided to try humor to calm her nerves. "Besides, you seemed to handle them just fine on your own."

"You're too kind," said the clearly unamused Mari. "Anyway J'ohn, did you find anything out?"

The knowledge that J'ohn acquired from Empathy's mind seemed to sadden the Martian, but nevertheless, he kept answered his teammate. "I did…and unfortunately, I cannot say it is good."


End file.
